Last week, Discovery Communications chief executive David Zaslav admitted that ratings for OWN, the joint venture cable network his company operates with Oprah Winfrey, were “below our expectations.”

The company said it would try to boost them by spending more money on programming. How much it plans to pony up beyond the $216 million it has already invested will depend on the network’s ratings in the months ahead.

The ratings confession is a first from Mr. Zaslav, who brokered the deal with Ms. Winfrey to start the channel in early 2008. He been a tireless cheerleader for the network, but last week on a call with analysts began to slightly change his tune, admitting it could take longer to launch it toward success than he initially expected.

“It has been a slower start,” he said, adding in a note of optimism: “It will take us awhile, and we are committed to it.”